...head: HURRICANE KATRINA AND THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS Hurricane Katrina and the City of New Orleans Carlos F. Campos Introduction to Public Safety Administration 302 Professor Wertman February 7, 2016 1 HURRICANE KATRINA AND THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS 2 Abstract Hurricane Katrina hit the southern states of Louisiana and Missouri in late August of 2015 almost as a Category 3 hurricane leaving behind death, devastation, and displaced people. The Washington Times (2005) reported that “Louisiana officials have said there were more than 1 million evacuees from that state alone, and Mississippi officials have said the total number of people displaced there could be several hundred thousand.” This essay provides a brief history of the devastation left by Katrina: one the costliest and deadliest natural disasters ever to strike the United States in the last 10 years, and what the city of New Orleans learned from such disaster. HURRICANE KATRINA AND THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS 3 Hurricane Katrina and the City of New Orleans Introduction According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (2015), “Hurricane Katrina was responsible for 1,833 fatalities and caused $108 billion in damage.” making Hurricane Katrina one of the costliest and deadliest hurricanes ever to strike the United States. On August 25, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in the southern counties of Florida as a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale...
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...Concept Paper: New Orleans Post-Katrina December 8, 2013 New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina, which hit the southeast United States in late August of 2005 was one of the costliest and deadliest hurricanes in United States history. The city of New Orleans was arguably hit the hardest by the hurricane. The objective of this paper is to analyze the link between economic, political, and social conditions in New Orleans prior to Hurricane Katrina and the conditions in New Orleans post-Katrina. Although natural disasters are an inevitability, the human suffering that citizens faced in New Orleans immediately following Katrina were largely avoidable, the result of a lack of adequate evacuation planning and massive governmental negligence. Furthermore, it was no accident which people suffered the most in the aftermath of Katrina. Financial, political, racial, and social disparities in New Orleans long before Katrina dictated who would be most affected after Katrina, both immediately and years after the hurricane. Rebuilding efforts, just like the evacuation, have tended to favor the rich and White and neglect the poor and Black. Pre-Katrina New Orleans was disproportionately Black and poor relative to the rest of the United States. According to 2000 U.S. Census data, Blacks made up 12.3% of the nation’s population while Whites made up 75.1% of the nation’s population (U.S. Census, 2000b). In contrast, the city of New Orleans was 28.1% White and 67.3% Black...
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...Governmental Fumble: Hurricane Katrina Things that occur naturally such as tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes are unpreventable and are considered to be natural disasters. However, when man knowingly aids in the destructive power of naturally occurring events to inflect more damage, it is unquestionably a manmade disaster. For many years, both in the past and present, the United States has experienced some of the most devastating natural and artificial catastrophes such as The Dust Bowl of the 1930’s and the September 11 terror attack by the Al-Qaida terror network among others. In the case of Hurricane Katrina, the human factor contributed to both the deadliest and costliest hurricane to impact the city of New Orleans. A city that is known to be the birth place of Jazz and the yearly celebration of Mardi Gras has unfortunately inherited a new chain of thought as the city that went underwater. Hurricane Katrina was the third strongest land hurricane and the sixth-strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. The hurricane is approximated to have affected more than 1.5 million individuals in the states of Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama, which contributed to the loss of billions of dollars in damages and job losses caused by the hurricane. The city of New Orleans was the most affected because it stood directly in Katrina’s path and although it is impossible to stop a naturally occurring event from occurring, it is not impossible to limit the damage that it inflicts...
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...seven years ago, one of the deadliest hurricanes struck the United States on the early morning of August 29, 2005. Hurricane Katrina was an extraordinary powerful hurricane that took the lives of several people, and it is considered the third deadliest hurricane to ever strike the country on top of being the costliest. Devastation spread throughout the central Gulf Coast as people from the affected areas evacuated their cities in hopes that they would have a home and a place to work when they returned. Katrina made landfall at three different locations, but its impact was seen all throughout the world as people came together to restore the destruction created by the storm. For the past 30 years, inland flooding has been the primary cause of hurricane-related fatalities with fatalities due to strong winds not far behind. Most hurricanes can produce a rainfall of least 6-12 inches, or 15-30 centimeters. Inland residents have to be cautious of slow-moving storms (NG). From its center, Katrina spread over 100 miles, or 160 kilometers, and is the largest hurricane of its strength to have ever struck the United States. It is recorded as the third strongest hurricane to make landfall in the United States and named sixth as the strongest hurricane ever recorded. Out of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, Katrina was the 11th named storm as well as the 5th hurricane and second Category 5 hurricane (DISCOVERY). The Saffir-Simpson scale measures hurricane intensity by placing them in categories...
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...9 RUNNING HEAD: LEADERSHIP FAILURES DURING KATRINA Leadership Failures of Hurricane Katrina Mark L. Perkins Webster University MNGT 6000 Professor Lee Trovas February27th2014 Abstract Hurricane Katrina was one of the most devastating natural disasters in recent history, not only because of the severity of the storm, which couldn’t be prevented, but due to poor planning and the years it took to rebuild and allow the people of New Orleans to move on with their lives.Hurricane Katrina happened four (4) years after the September 11th terrorist attacks and three (3) years after the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and one (1) year after the DHS had created a National Response Plan. With the world watching the Federal Government failed the people of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. The government failed to show initiative and the ability to provide for the basic needs for the people of New Orleans on many levels, including planning, logistics and communication during the natural disaster and the aftermath of the storm. . Introduction I’m going to discuss several failures of leadership and not just on the federal government but on the city and state as well. There are too many to fault that are identified later in this disaster ranging from pre-planning,...
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...market in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina Table of contents 1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………3 2. Pre-Katrina situation ………………………..…………………………………..4 3. After-Katrina situation…………………………………………………………..6 4. Current situation New Orleans….………………………………………………8 5. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...…9 6. References…………………………………………………………………….….10 Introduction It is August 29th of 2005 when the United States of America is badly affected by one of history’s most catastrophic nature disasters. Hurricane Katrina hits the south of New Orleans and causes severe damage to this city. This second biggest hurricane in the entire history of America left 80 percent of New Orleans flooded, approximately 80 billion dollars of damage and more than 1800 killed civilians. Due to this disaster, New Orleans was almost completely destroyed including the residences of thousands of families. Not only were there economic enormous problems but also political questions rose by that time. The president by then, president Bush, came in discredit because of cutting in the federal funding which was protecting New Orleans. Since then a lot of things have actually changed but unfortunately, too late. Complete neighborhoods were removed from the map, people became homeless and moved to different places. The effects on the housing market in New Orleans were immense. Because of the effect hurricane Katrina had on the housing market in New Orleans, the question...
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...Racism and Hurricane Katrina Matt DePalma Geography 1000 Assignment 1 October 4, 2013 Under the presidency of George W. Bush, Hurricane Katrina was deemed as a national, political, and racial disaster. From preparations of the hurricane, rescue efforts provided, and money funded for the storm, Hurricane Katrina represented a nationwide failure and the casualties and emotional scars it left on the people of New Orleans is evidence. Monday, August 29, 2005 will forever live on as a day of infamy in New Orleans, a day where not only poor planning was obvious but racial inequalities also became even more apparent to the people. In the aftermath of its destruction, Katrina showed the world just how racist New Orleans was, and how corrupt and slowly the government acted towards saving lives. Unfortunately, New Orleans the the United States government left the black, poverty stricken population for dead, exposing a city still full of racism for had they not been, more lives could have been rescued. For starters, Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans during the storm had issued a mandatory evacuation of the city in preparation of the storm (Trouble the Water). This is a seemingly righteous and smart political move on Nagin’s part except that he also provided no transportation for those without cars or money. As a mayor, Nagin had to know that not every single person in his city could afford the luxury of travel for evacuation of Katrina. Nagin left 100,000 people, most of...
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...Resilience Planning during Hurricane Sandy: Hurricane Sandy Lessons Learned from Hurricane Katrina University of Maryland University College Homeland Security Management: Resilience Planning and Preparedness for Disaster Response and Recovery (2152), Spring 2015 Written By: Brittany Wiley Introduction: Major Hurricane disasters along the coastlines have affected many cities and communities which have forced them to take into action and adopt the conception of emergency management, such as resilience planning, disaster preparedness, response and recovery planning. Mitigation preparedness plays an effective part in the emergency management plan. Many cities and communities must explore strategies to reduce the major impact these disasters have and implement resilience planning that will allow communities to rebuild. According to the National Disaster Recovery Framework (2011), “a successful recovery process promotes practices that minimize the community’s risk to all hazards and strengthens it’s ability to withstand and recover from future disasters, which constitute a community’s resiliency” (p. 11). Furthermore, Hurricane disaster’s not only expose community’s vulnerabilities but it gives them the opportunity to rebuild with more resiliency. When comparing two devastating Hurricane disasters that have impacted many cities, communities and lives; it’s important to consider Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans and Hurricane Sandy, New Jersey and New York. Both disasters distinguish...
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...is a documentary about the disastrous flooding of New Orleans during the Hurricane Katrina in a different viewpoint. While mass media describes the flood as well as the hurricane as a natural disaster, Shearer claims that the flooding was actually a man-made disaster, not a natural one; and the film contains comprehensive investigations with scientific data to support the claim. “The Big Uneasy” emphasize on the ineffective design and maintenance of the flood-protection system as well as the engineering structure of Mississippi River’s waterway in the city. Severe environmental damages due to poor infrastructural planning also ruin the natural flood barrier of the region. Furthermore, these problems are supported...
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...Jason Coleman 06-11-12 New Orleans Recommendation Paper The Case For, or Against, New Orleans Management Decision Models B6025 Dr. Usha Dasari We will look at many factors in our case for rebuilding or not rebuilding New Orleans. This recommendation will be reviewed by state and local governments for their decision. We will perform a Cost-Benefit Analysis which will represent the residents of New Orleans, the residents of the surrounding floods plains, the Mayor of New Orleans, and the federal government represented by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and the taxpayers. We will look at scenario models, risk management, and decision trees to support our decisions and analysis. This natural disaster took an enormous toll on the residents of New Orleans. Over 1200 lives were lost and countless injuries were suffered. The loss of revenue from the shutdown of businesses, loss of homes and possessions of residents caused much pain and human suffering. We will conclude with an executive summary which will summarize our decision for or against rebuilding of New Orleans. Prior to the hurricane New Orleans was a tourism magnet. The city offered many restaurants, festivals, and great weather. These positives made tourism a thriving market. Other boons for the economy of New Orleans were the mining, transportation, and warehousing along its waterways. More products came through this port than any other port in the world. There are many colleges in the area than add...
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...New Orleans was originally founded on high ground overlooking the Mississippi River, above sea level. Also surrounded by Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne, New Orleans was susceptible to hurricanes that would come up the coast into the Gulf. Originally New Orleans was naturally protected by “coastal swamps that helped absorb the energy of storm surges before they reached dry land.” (Stillman 228) At this point Americans were more concerned with the floods that happened annually from the Mississippi River. In the early days, settlers built a mile long levee to block overflows from the mighty Mississippi while landowners constructed their own levees. “In 1879, Congress created the Mississippi River Commission” (Stillman 228) in which they hoped to train the river. Herein lay one of the earliest problems. Congress assigned the Army Corps of Engineers (the “Corps”) to head this newly created commission. The Corps believed they could control Mother Nature however as the video footage from The Lost City of New Orleans: A Case Study proved, “human kind cannot take on Mother Nature”. These engineers did not have the experience however they continued to increase the levees stating this would “confine the rivers for good”. However, “the more the levees constricted the Mississippi, the higher the waters rose”. (Stillman 228) As new plans and projects for the protecting New Orleans from Mississippi floodwaters were enacted, federal government financially backed all of them...
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...The Case For, or Against, New Orleans Cost-Benefit Assessment Too asses and give recommendation on whether or not to rebuild the city of new Orleans I will be examining the cost to benefits of such a rebuild and the impact and benefits it will have towards the city. In the CBA, I will be examining the cost of rebuilding New Orleans to pre Katrina conditions without making any additional upgrades to the levees and infrastructure. This will give me a more accurate cost model to base my recommendation on. As for the benefits I will examine the benefits of recovered losses when comparing pre Katrina data to post Katrina dat. The areas where I will be examining are tourism recovered, port operations recovered, wages recovered, spending recovered, and taxes recovered. The future value (FV) of these benefits will then be discounted to present value (PV) and compared to the cost of rebuilding to represent the net present value (NPV) of the expected amount to be gained or lost by carrying out the recovery. If the NPV is less than the cost, then rebuilding New Orleans will yield a loss and my recommendation will not favor a recovery. If the inverse is true, and the proposal will be in favor of the recovery. All calculations will based on post Katrina 2006 reports and data to give a more realistic prediction of the decision that could have been concluded given data directly after the catastrophe. Costs of Rebuilding These cost are compiled from the Department of...
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...Hurricane Katrina is one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the United States of America. It took thousands lives of citizens of New Orleans, left them without homes and families, and changed their lives forever. Many of those who survived the hurricane died waiting for help to come. Hurricane Katrina exposed the existence of ''two Americas''. It took government several days to get help to the victims of Katrina in New Orleans. After watching Spike Lee's documentary ''When The Levees Broke'' I learned that the Government doesn't care about its citizens. After Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency failed to do what it was created to do - provide immediate relief to the victims of the disasters. People were waiting for help for days, suffering from the heat, lack of food and drinking water and watching their loved ones die without medical help. Those who were tired to wait for the rescue buses and started to walk toward the Gretna bridge were turn around at the gun point. They were not allowed in, like they were citizens of another country- refugees, and thats how the media called people of New Orleans. The disaster of Hurricane Katrina could've been avoided if the levees that protect city would have been designed and built properly. I believe that Federal Government and other officials were aware of the situation for a very long time and still did nothing to protect the people of New Orleans. Most of the citizens of...
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...Vasquez SOC/362 June 12, 2011 What happen in Louisiana, New Orleans long term and subsidence of the land had left a coastline without its natural buffers and city that was below the city sea level. Natural eco system services regulating water flow was replaced with machines levees and pumps that keep the water off the streets. This had lack of regard for natural ecosystems left the city of New Orleans, vulnerable to a catastrophic flooding during this Category 5 Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina had been listed one of the most horrible storms in history. The environmental consequence was devastating. New Orleans was vulnerable to wind and water, and over time a great deal has been done to help save this city from harm. Hurricanes Katrina storm course breached floodwalls and levees New Orleans, causing a widespread of damage along with the hampering rescue and improvement. The flooding caused by Hurricane Katrina was predicted, the degree of flooding was vague. Since much of the landscape of the city is underneath the sea level and lacking natural drainage precipitation frequently causes local flooding which is controlled by a system of canals and pumps (Cater 2005). New Orleans was faced with flooding threats from the Mississippi River, costal storms and severe precipitation. The levees as well as floodwalls around the city were intended to present a certain level of defense for such threat as Katrina. However the levees prevented the deposition of sediments that...
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...Hurricane Katrina was the priciest and one of the deadliest hurricanes to hit the coast of the United States in recorded history. The category three natural disaster is the sixth most severe storm on record, one of the most destructive storms in U.S. history, and it’s responsible for about 150 billion dollars in damage and the loss of over 1,800 people. It was the evening before Wednesday, August 23, 2005 when Hurricane Katrina had raised from the oceans near Louisiana. In the beginning, its wind speed was 75mph which increased to 170mph just within 5 days. It was started off as a category 1 hurricane but then converted into a category 5 hurricane. Like most hurricanes, Hurricane Katrina formed over the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean. To...
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